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Role: To work alongside skilled local doctors in a number of different departments, including traditional medicine

Type of placement: Hospitals

Requirements: Volunteers must have completed at least 1 year of medical related studies or training

Accommodation: Shared volunteer apartments

Price: From

What’s included? Food, accommodation, transfers to and from our specified airport, transport to and from work where required, insurance, personal webpage, induction and orientation, 24/7 support

What’s not included? Flights, visa costs, spending money

Length of placement: From 2 weeks

Start dates: Flexible

Volunteering on a Medicine project in China is an exciting experience. As a Medicine volunteer you will gain a great deal of valuable work experience alongside some of the most skilled and inspirational doctors in the country. The facilities are generally of a high standard, on a par with many hospitals in the west.

All Medicine & Healthcare volunteers in China must have completed at least one year of medicine or healthcare related studies or training by the time they join this project. Any volunteers who would like to be based in Shanghai, need to have completed at least two years of medical studies. You will need to bring proof of your experience with you.

Our medicine volunteers work in major city hospitals in Chengdu and Shanghai. Volunteers shadow doctors in a number of different departments. At all of our medical placements in China there is a unique combination of western and traditional Chinese medicine.

As a volunteer on a Medicine project in China you will shadow the doctors, accompanying them on their ward rounds. You will rotate around different departments spending 1-2 weeks in each one. While most of your time will be observing, you can still learn a lot from the doctors. You can ask lots of questions and they are keen to teach you. You will have the chance to discuss individual cases and your understanding of them with your supervisor.

Medical Volunteering in Chengdu and Shanghai

Chengdu and Shanghai are large enough to enable volunteers wishing to broaden their medicine and healthcare experience in different areas to work in just one hospital. While the hospitals are modern, each city hospital has a department devoted to traditional medicine, which runs in conjunction with western medical practices in China. You may find that you want to concentrate your time in one area, or simply learn about the interplay of both types and the holistic approach that is taken to medicine.

You will live with other volunteers in a centrally-located shared apartment. There is so much to explore and discover in Shanghai or Chengdu, and our volunteer community is traditionally a lively and a varied one.

You can join the Medicine project in China for two or three weeks if you don't have time to join us for four weeks or more. Please be aware that the number of departments you can experience may be limited and you may not be able to make the same impact as someone volunteering for a longer period.

"I had the opportunity to practise acupuncture with Dr Zhen Gang, my supervisor, on a few of the patients - an amazing experience."

Some of the media Projects Abroad has featured in: The Times, The Guardian, EL DIARIO, San Francisco Chronicle, Newsweek, Ok! Magazine, The New York Times, The Vancouver Sun, ELLE, BBC, CNBC, Travel and Leisure, BusinessWeek, The Irish Times